Personal computing devices typically take one of three forms. Tower and desktop personal computer (PC) systems include a relatively large housing in which is included a motherboard, one or more removable media drives, typically DVD and/or CD drives, and one or more mass-storage devices, more commonly termed hard disk drives. The motherboard supports a main processor fitted with a heatsink, which typically is cooled using a fan. The motherboard typically has supported on it a number of connectors for the connection of external devices, such as connectors for a monitor, one or more external drives, input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and the like. The motherboard typically is supported within the housing such that the connectors protrude through suitable holes formed in the rear of the housing, allowing external devices to be connected thereto. The motherboard also includes a number of connectors for the connection of internal devices, such as RAM and graphics cards, sound cards and the like. These devices normally extend in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard. Such PCs are powered by a cable connection to a mains electricity supply.
Modern PCs typically use one of the four most common motherboards, named ATX, ITX, BTX and Micro ATX. There are numerous advantages associated with using these motherboard types, including the cost effectiveness associated with manufacturing in large numbers. They typically are capable of supporting a wide range of computing power, and allow the connection of numerous additional components to the motherboard main processor. The Micro ATX and ITX motherboards have the same mounting holes, so one housing design can be used with either type of motherboard. The ITX, and Micro ATX motherboards also are available readily and cheaply worldwide, and are relatively small, having dimensions of 244 mm square. The new Flex ATX motherboard has maximum dimensions 229 mm by 191 mm.
The functions of tower and desktop PCs can be provided in portable, battery-powered devices, commonly known as laptop computers, notebooks or notepads, which constitute the third form of PC. The components making up these laptop computers are different to those making up tower and desktop PCs, in particular by being smaller, lighter and by having significantly lower power consumption and heat generation. This applies particularly to the main processor. Laptop computers usually have less connectivity than tower or desktop PCs, since connectors can consume a relatively large amount of volume within a housing. As a consequence of the size and power consumption requirements of components for laptop computers, they tend to be more expensive than corresponding tower and desktop PC components, and they also tend to be less compatible with other PC components than corresponding tower and desktop PC components. Laptop main processors for example tend to cost about twice as much as corresponding desktop PC main processors. Because the power resources available to laptop computers is less than that available to tower or desktop computers, laptop computers tend to have less powerful processors than corresponding tower or desktop PCs.
Although it is known to provide PCs with outputs suitable for connection to television sets, it still is much more common to use a dedicated monitor instead. This is thought by the inventors to be in part because of the size of conventional PCs, which are too large to lend them easily to being placed under a television set along with a VCR or DVD player. The fans required for PCs can also make them sufficiently noisy to constitute an irritation when being used with a television set. Although laptop computers have a size more suitable for placement beneath a television set, they do not tend to have television output connectors, since they are designed primarily for portable use, and they also are relatively expensive.